By far and away the best way to naturally lower high blood pressure is with a five-day vegetable juice fast followed by a vegan diet. I have done this over and over for many years with many different patients. And it almost never fails. But why? Is it the lack of animal protein that does it? Or is it the increase in vegetables? Or is it both? The surprising results of a new study are helping us understand what it is about the vegan diet that decreases blood pressure.

The study comes from the School of Public Health at Imperial College in London. The researchers looked at the dietary habits of 4,680 men and women between the ages of 40-59. One important aspect of the study was that it looked at people from Japan, China, England, and the United States. So they didn't emphasize any particular cultural diet.

During the study period, the researchers reviewed each patient's diet four times. They also measured their blood pressure eight times. And they checked the participants' salt levels twice. Here's what they found.

The lowest amount of fruit consumed was in the U.S. at an average of 52 grams for every 1,000 calories. The highest amount was about 25% more in China at 68 grams per 1,000 calories. And here's the surprising connection they found between fruit intake and blood pressure.

Continued Below...

A simple way to keep your muscles strong as you get older (and it isn't exercise)

This one step can strengthen aging muscles, boost your immune system, and even help you manage your weight.

Eating fruit did not cause a decrease in blood pressure in any group studied. In fact, it did just the opposite. There was a very slight increase in blood pressure with higher fruit consumption. That means eating a vegetable juice diet will lower your blood pressure, but a fruit juice fast may not. In fact, it could raise your blood pressure.

So if you have high blood pressure and want to reduce it naturally, the best diet is one that has an abundance of vegetables and very little fruit and animal protein. Actually, this should not be too surprising. Fruit contains very high levels of sugar. Sugar weakens the adrenal glands, which results in a higher output of adrenalin. And adrenalin acts to increase blood pressure. So while you are decreasing your fruit intake, be sure to decrease your intake of all sugars as well.

If you want the nutrients from fruit without overloading on sugar, you can take a supplement like
Advanced Greens Formula, which contains dried fruit.